Rare blue royal diamond sets all time auction record of £16.3m

London, December 11 (ANI): A rare blue grey diamond bearing 300 years of royal history and weighing 35.56 carat diamond has set a world record after fetching 16.3 million pounds at an auction.

The Wittelsbach Diamond, which had been in the Wittelsbach family since 1722, had been expected to gather up to 9 million pounds at Christie's Geneva auction, reports the Telegraph.

But the sparkler, which had been a part of a private collection since 1964, has now broken the world record for any diamond sold under the hammer after Bond Street jeweller Laurence Graff made the whopping bid.

The coloured diamond had been given by King Philip IV of Spain in 1664 to his teenage daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa, as part of the dowry for while she became engaged to her uncle Leopold I of Austria, who later became the Holy Roman Emperor.

The gem that had its origin in the Indian diamond mines had then passed on to his heirs and entered the Wittelsbach family in 1772, a German dynasty, to later become "Der Blaue Wittelsbacher".

François Curiel, chairman of Christie's Europe and its international head of jewellery, said: "It is a great honour and a lifetime dream to handle a museum quality stone such as the Wittelsbach.

"The appearance of a large blue diamond, among the rarest of colours, with a history that can be traced back to the 17th century and 300 years of royal connections will surely be a thrilling occasion for all collectors of exceedingly rare jewels and works of art." (ANI)